Residents speak of worst flooding in living memory

Beleaguered UK residents have said they are braced for more flooding as another band of heavy rain swept in.

A resident makes use of a flooded pitch near Rugby (Picture: Caters)

Alex Butler said her neighbours in Corston, Wiltshire, had already been forced out of their home after a stream which ran through her garden turned into a ‘torrent’ overnight.

‘I’m watching what’s normally a little trickle of a stream but what is now a mass of very fast moving brown water,’ said the 46-year-old.

‘And as the ground gets soggier trees are coming down and we’re starting to see whole trees go past. It’s really quite surreal and alarming. What’s worrying us is that the water hasn’t got anywhere to go.

‘We’ve had so much rain the flood plain is full and the ground is saturated, so the water will just start coming up towards the houses.

‘Before this, it hadn’t flooded in living memory.’

Electricity supplies have been hit while some homeowners have brought in pumps to try to deal with flooded cellars.

But with more rain sweeping across south-west England, residents feared they had not yet seen the worst. ‘We’ve had it pretty bad but now it could turn really bad,’ Ms Butler added.